After crossing the International Date Line, Alison from Riverside, California, wonders if there’s a word for losing an entire day when traveling between time zones. We suggest déjà noon and groundhogging, and offer a little ditty about time: “Today...
Why do so many Americans think British accents automatically connote intelligence? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Accent Implying Intelligence” You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m...
Mesmerize, meaning to attract strongly or hold spellbound, comes from Franz Mesmer, an 18th-century German doctor who promoted a theory he called animal magnetism. After completing a medical thesis in Vienna in 1766, Mesmer treated patients with...
If you’re a fan of yard sales, you’ll love this game from Puzzle Guy John Chaneski. Suppose you go yard-saling, but only at the homes of famous people. The items you find there are all two-word rhymes. At the house of one powerful politician, for...
A listener in Brazil challenges Martha’s pronunciation of the odd English word antipodes. Their email exchange leads Martha to muse about a favorite collection of poems, where she first encountered this word.
Are more and more people talking about standing behind a podium? A San Diegan says the traditional rule has been that one stands behind a lectern and stands on a podium. Has this traditional rule changed? This is part of a complete episode...
